The invention is in the field of hand-held steaming/pressing devices which are light and easily portable. Numerous devices of this general type have been proposed in the past. For example, Doyel U.S. Pat. No. 3,695,066 (by the same inventor) shows a portable, hand-held steamer which works on the same principle of passing electrical current between electrodes immersed in electrolyte such as a water soluton of table salt and which has a steam conduit inlet at the approximate geometric center of the housing interior so as to keep water from entering it when the device is tipped or inverted. The device also has a handle which slides between a working position and a storage position. Other steamers are proposed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,646,317; 3,733,723 and 3,997,759. A steamer with an attachment in the form of an ironing sole is proposed in U.S. Pat. No. Re. 28,418, and steamers which have sole plates at their bottoms are proposed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,755,649; 3,811,208; 3,969,607; 4,190,762; 4,196,340; and 4,206,340. Other U.S. Pat. Nos. of general interest include 2,601,059; 2,664,653; 2,701,424; 2,750,694; 2,777,225; 2,786,287; 3,003,266; 3,061,959 and 3,742,629. The following U.S. patent classifications may be of interest: class 38, subclasses 69, 77.4 and 77.5, class 68, subclass 222 and class 219, subclass 271.
The desirable characteristics of steaming/pressing devices of this general type are believed to include lightweight, compact size, reliability, ease of operation, safety, low manufacturing cost and ease of assembly (and hence low price) and various other conveniences to the user. While the prior proposals known to applicant have sought to meet at least some of these design goals, it is believed that a substantial need still remains for meeting all of them, and perhaps additional ones as well, and this invention is directed to that end.
In an examplary and nonlimiting embodiment, a device using features of the invention comprises a hollow, sealed housing having a front and a back end and a sole plate which has a steam outlet. A filling hole is positioned so as to allow only a selected quantity of liquid electrolyte to be poured in before overflowing, as a safety feature to help ensure that the device would not draw excessive current or generate excessive amount of steam. A filling hole stopper is manually movable between a locked position, in which it engages and seals the filling hole, and a filling position in which it can be moved away from the filling hole to allow pouring electrolyte in the housing. The interaction between the stopper, the filling hole and the rest of the housing is such that the electrical cord used to supply current to the device cannot be plugged into the device unless the stopper is in its locked position sealing the filling hole. Moreover, the relative arrangement is such that once the cord is plugged into the device, the stopper cannot be moved away from its locked and sealed position. This two-sided safety feature is relied on to prevent direct electrical contact between the electrolyte, the current source and the user, to thereby avoid possible electrical shock, and also helps ensure that in operation steam would exit the device only through the steam hole designed for the purpose. It is believed that while a partial interlock between a filling hole and a cord may have been proposed in some of the known prior documents (e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,366,367; 3,969,607 and 3,997,759) no full interlock of the type taught in this disclosure has been described or suggested therein. A steam conduit has its downstream end connected to the steam outlet in the sole plate and has its upstream end open within a battled steam box which has steam inlet holes positioned and oriented to minimize the chance of water droplets being carried by the steam into the steam conduit and out the steam outlet. Moreover, the steam inlet holes are at the approximate geometric volume center of the housing, so no liquid would flow in the steam box regardless of how the device is oriented. While some of the prior documents propose placing the steam conduit inlet at the approximate geometric center (U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,695,066 and 4,206,340), they do not teach or suggest the extensive provisions described in this specification of minimizing the possibility of water droplets being carried by the steam coming out of the steam outlet in the sole plate. A handle is pivotally secured at its front end to the housing top and moves between a working position up from the housing, in which it can be easily grasped without bringing the user's hand too close to hot portions of the device, and a storage position down against the housing, to minimize the housing size and facilitate convenient storage. The handle is locked in either of its two positions by a spring biased lock, which can be manually released to move the handle to its other position. The device includes a measuring cup which has an integral salt measure and is shaped and dimensioned to envelope the back end of the housing either for storage or for use as a stand so that the device can operate as an upright steamer rather than as a pressing iron. In the alternative, the device can be used as a hand-held upright steamer without using the cup as a stand. The cup and the handle interact to lock the cup to the housing when the cup is in place and the handle is brought down to and locked in its storage position, to thereby store the device, with the cup, as a compact unit. The cup bottom is sufficiently flat and is arranged relative to the center of gravity of the device to facilitate its use as a convenient stand. Moreover, the handle is shaped and dimensioned to serve as an extra leg for when the device is used as an upright steamer supported on a flat surface. While a handle telescoping between a storage and a working position is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,695,066, it is believed that no pivoting handle interacting with a measuring cup in the manner described in this specification is taught or suggested in the prior art. The electrodes which pass current through electrolyte in the housing are positioned and dimensioned to be immersed in electrolyte and thereby generate steam when the device is either resting on its sole plate or is used as an upright steamer but not when it rests on its side or points down or is upside down, thereby affording a convenient way for interrupting the flow of current and steam generation without the use of an electrical switch. Extensive provisions are made to keep electrolyte or steam from exiting through the openings for supplying electric current to the electrodes, and to minimize the effects of any such escape, should it occur. When the device runs out of electrolyte, it shuts itself off. These and other features of the invention are described in greater detail below.